Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Ending Both Challenges

So I must apologize for not completing my 30 day Tao challenge, it's a bit sad that I was only 3 days away, so I will finish it all up now.

Day 28: Favorite Taoist quote from a non-Taoist
Though the Tao Te Ching wasn't translated until after his death, Ralph Waldo Emerson had a keen abiity to capture many of the concepts. Here are just a few:

"A great man is always
willing to be little."

"A man is relieved and
gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has
said or done otherwise shall give him no peace."

"A man is what he
thinks about all day long."

“Adopt the pace of
nature: her secret is patience.”

Day 29: Religion or Philosophy?
This is an age old question among Taoist/Daoist, and I would refer you to a previous post I made to explain my point of view on the matter. Simply put, there is both, and many among them claim to be the only "real Daoists". This type of labeling and exclusion is completely at odds with Lao Tzu's teaching, in my opinion. Tolerance if not acceptance of others is certainly a Taoist idea.

Day 30: Reflection of this 30 day challenge
I really enjoyed exploring some of the different ideas. If I were to make this challenge better, I would allow myself more than a single day to reflect on each of the ideas. Many times I felt rushed to get the post done in time, and other things demanding too much of my attention to allow me to explore something as deeply as I would have liked. Perhaps a once a week challenge for a couple of months would be more appropriate for such a deep topic.

I have also opted to put the Complaint Free Challenge on hold. I learned more about myself and those around me in one week than I ever expected. I still plan on attempting the challenge, but I don't think that right now is the best time for me to have any chance at success. I am still being mindful, though, of the complaining and gossiping that I had not idea I did so often. I am also trying to just stay in an overall more positive mindset, although the universe has sent me MANY challenges to that attempt. I will likely write a post in the future chronicling my one week of this journey.